Voice Over IP Articles

Connecting to VoIP- Connecting to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can be confusing because there are several different ways to connect to VoIP. It all depends on the equipment you’re using. This article helps to clarify the ways of connecting to VoIP.

Types of VoIP

The first thing to understand about connecting to VoIP is that there are four possible scenarios for a VoIP conversation. It can be:

• computer-to-computer

• computer-to-phone

• phone-to-computer

• phone-to-phone

However, whichever of these type of VoIP connections you’re making, you only need one device, either a computer or a phone, and whatever way that device connects, it will connect the same way every time, no matter what type of device the person on the other end of the call is using.

Connecting to VoIP With a Computer

This is the easiest of all the ways to use VoIP. When you’re using a computer to connect to VoIP, you need four things: a microphone and speakers (these may be built into your computer); an Internet Service Provider (ISP), to whom you pay a standard monthly fee; the cables, modem, router, or any other equipment necessary to connect your particular computer system to the service provider’s feed; and a piece of software to turn your computer into a VoIP phone. This assumes that your computer has a sound card, but that pretty much goes without saying these days. In some cases, the monthly ISP is the only fee for the call; in other cases, additional charges may apply. Also, a high-speed internet connection, such as cable or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), may be required for the service to work.

Some VoIP programs began as text instant message or chat programs and added audio (and sometimes video as well) to the initial text messaging version. Softphones clients is a name for the software for placing and receiving calls whether voice only or video over the computer. Examples of softphone clients include AOL Instant Messenger, Gizmo5, Google Talk, iChat, Skype, the Windows Live Call feature of Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.

Connecting to VoIP With a Phone

How you connect to VoIP with a phone will depend on whether your phone is an analog phone or a VoIP-ready phone. An analog phone is enabled for VoIP calls by connecting it to an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA). The ATA may be attached directly to your computer via USB cable, and in this scenario, calls are only possible with your computer on and the installation of special software.

The other alternative is to attach the ATA to your Ethernet modem, or if you have a local area network (LAN) your router, in which case, the computer is not required, and the software is built into the ATA. If you get digital voice service from your ISP, this may translate into renting an ATA that they will install by connecting it to your modem or they may, for example, substitute a modem that has built-in ATA. Choosing this method to connect to VoIP means that you can continue to use whatever analog phones you may have previously chosen and become accustomed to.

If you are willing to switch the type of telephone you have, two more possibilities open up. For one thing, it is possible to purchase a phone that is VoIP-ready, having a built-in ATA. For another, you can take advantage of a phone that operates in two modes: VoIP over the Internet as well as the standard cell phone operation. If you see a phone advertised as have both 3G and WiFi, then likely it is one of these dual-mode cell phones. Be aware that "dual-mode" is also used to refer to phones that combine other capabilities, such as have both analog and digital capacity.

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